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Marking spiders with a lone black dot to signify his acting on hydraulic pressure is an utterly poetic expression for describing his making arthropods walk through leg pumping. Spiders remain in the curled posture as blood pressure fails. I could go on forever building an amusing realm from this revelation!
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Once again, Rober desecrated the grisly veil to provide a lesson on spider legs-from biomechanical perspective-that most people find more than a bit creepy. In the latest demonstration, Rober showed how a spider powers its legs by hydraulic force just like heavy construction machinery.
“Did you know the reason spider legs curl up when they die is the same reason you can bring them back to life with this tiny little pump?” asks Rober. He then goes through a direct comparison with excavator machinery and explains the ways both humans and machines use fluid pressure to produce movements.
Now, the science behind that is surprisingly simple: The heart pumps blood into the legs of the spider to keep the legs extended outward. When the blood retreats back into the convention, all legs are pulled in. So basically, with hydraulic pressure, the spider is independently moving each leg much like the way they know to crawl. With the failure of this pressure system in death, comes that sudden contraction into the curled-up position.
Of course, Rober had to add a few steps to the demonstration-but his “steps” were very real this time. He explains to viewers how to “hijack” this mechanical system by attaching a small pump to an already dead spider, and things suddenly get fun and a little bit scary as the spider’s legs begin moving again, contracting and extending under the control of this pump.
“Stay with me for a second, even if you hate spiders because this is incredible,” said Rober, as he demonstrated the manipulated spider actually picking up small objects with its newly reanimated legs. It became an amazing moment of learning, walking that fine line between exciting science and what some might view as spider necromancy.
The reaction to the demonstration was nearly instantaneous and as varied as is common with Rober’s productions. One viewer summed up the general reaction perfectly when he wrote, “We cannot let this man become a villain,” synthesizing both the slightly disturbing nature of the experiment and its scientific merit.
Another comment anticipated the split in reactions, noting they “just came to the comments to see how many people were triggered about this one.” It became true as the comment section revealed division between fascination and discomfort in regard to the spider manipulation.
Several commenters drew human anatomy comparisons. “Same thing with boners btw,” one user stated bluntly while another joked, “So what I’m learning here is technically I do have a third leg?” That hydraulic comparison really hit home on so many levels.
Creative uses started flying immediately. One budding entrepreneur declared, “I’m making a dead spider claw machine immediately,” while another replied, “Try it in Sydney, Australia,” in reference to the famously large spiders Down Under.
Rober’s own wife, Lisa, shared her opinion: “Gross. 💯 not worth it,” which made her one of those few people closest to the science communicator who refused to go along with some of his more outlandish ideas.
What consistently makes Rober’s videos so compelling is his ability to explain relatively complicated scientific ideas with a touch of over-the-top demonstrations and theatrics. His spider leg project fits right alongside his infamous glitter bomb package and elephant toothpaste experiments-educational, yet fun.
He showed his concern for sensitively addressing his audience through the video as well. He blurs out the spider during the initial setup specifically for viewers who might find the content disturbing. “Thank you for the blur,” remarked one arachnophobic commenter, appreciative of the consideration.
But the demonstration also offers deep insights into animal biomechanics. The analogy of machinery anchors mechanical principles to the biological systems in a way that gives people those “aha” insights-the moments in science that are the most fun.
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This method straddles pop culture and science; even difficult subjects are made interesting when served with the perfect sauce of scientific integrity and performance artistry. The spider leg experiment is another successful episode in his ongoing campaigns to bring science home in a fun, easily approachable way. In another fascinating project, Mark Rober revealed the sharpest blade on Earth is 700,000 years old.